"I believe the Grammys have done a disservice to many talented musicians by combining previously distinct and separate types of music into a catch-all of blurry larger categories," Simon wrote in a letter to Grammy president and CEO Neil Portnow. "They deserve the separate Grammy acknowledgements that they've been afforded until this change eliminated them."

Portnow insists that the cuts in the number of categories is not limited to non-mainstream and ethnic music. "In this year's awards there were 34 mainstream categories. Next year there will be 20 mainstream categories. In non-mainstream categories there were 71. In the upcoming 54th awards, there will be 54," he told the Associated Press. The Academy has consolidated several categories, most notably by doing away with gender-based categories in pop, R&B, country and rock.